


Partners (In Something)

by 26stars



Series: AU August 2020 [23]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: (Elena and Daisy fake-date with Jemma's consent), (from Parents), Brooklyn Nine-Nine AU, Coming Out, Daisy is Jake, Elena is Rosa, F/F, Family tension/drama, Homophobia, Jemma is Amy, background skimmons, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26208709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/26stars/pseuds/26stars
Summary: For the AU August Day 30 prompt: your favorite TV showFor me, that's B99 :)Elena came out to her parents last year and it didn't go great. Now that they're coming for a visit, Elena feels the need for a little backup at dinner.Loosely follows the plot of the s5 Rosa-coming-out episodes
Relationships: Elena and her parents, Jemma Simmons/Skye | Daisy Johnson, Yo Yo Rodriguez & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Series: AU August 2020 [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860802
Comments: 14
Kudos: 39
Collections: AOS AU August 2020, Women of the MCU





	Partners (In Something)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ellsey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellsey/gifts).



> Thanks Ellsey for your help!
> 
> I had this prompt sitting around forever: “My homophobic parents are coming to visit will you pretend to date me as an extra ‘f--k you’?”  
> ...it seemed like a good fit for this 'verse.

Daisy is not exactly focused on the paperwork on her desk—she’s rarely a hundred-percent-focused on anything—but that doesn’t make Elena’s appearance at her elbow any less startling.

“I need a favor.”

“What!” Daisy yelps. It was meant to be a question, but Elena tends to have this effect on Daisy when she’s not prepared for it.

“Can’t talk here,” Elena says shiftily, turning away. “Come to the evidence lockup.”

Once they’re behind closed doors, Elena turns to Daisy, her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket.

“Okay, so you remember how I came out as bi to my parents last year, and it didn’t go all that great?”

“Yeah, your mom disinvited you to holidays?” Daisy recalls. “Has something changed? Did she come around?”

Elena shrugs minutely. “Kind of. It’s hard to say. She and my dad are coming to visit this weekend though, and they want to have dinner with me. I don’t quite trust them to not be coming with a priest in tow though, so I was really hoping you might be willing to come along with me.”

“Of course,” Daisy says immediately. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”

“There’s something else though, and I understand if you need to talk to Jemma first,” Elena goes on, her eyes now shifting hesitantly. “I was wondering if we could tell my parents that you’re my girlfriend.”

Daisy’s brow furrows. “What? Why?”

Elena sighs, folding her arms, an uncharacteristically timid gesture for her. “I just—I’m worried they’re going to act like nothing’s happened. Like I never came out, like last year’s drama never happened, and if they don’t see it, they’ll just pretend my sexuality isn’t real. But if I had a girlfriend there—someone they know, someone they already like as a person—it might go differently. They wouldn’t be able to ignore it, and that will be better for all of us.”

“Us, like, not including me,” Daisy reminds her. “Because if anyone’s going to get crucified at this dinner, it’s going to be me for ‘turning you bi’…”

“I would never let that happen,” Elena says immediately. “If they won’t be civil, you and I will leave. And I promise I won’t throw you under the bus.”

“And I’ll never get invited to dinner at your parents’ house again!” Daisy reminds her.

“Then you and I will be in the same boat.” Elena gives her a withering look, and Daisy looks down, chastened.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ll talk to Jemma when she gets back later, but I bet she’ll understand. She hates the way your parents have shut you out just as much as I do.”

Elena smiles with one side of her mouth. “Thanks Daisy. They’ll be here tomorrow night, so let me know soon.”

~

Jemma is actually _extremely_ cool with it, on the condition that Daisy and Elena don’t do anything more than hold hands or hug as part of the act, so Daisy puts on a nice blouse after work and waits for Elena to pick her up on her motorcycle for the dinner.

“They wanted to go to this nice place,” Elena says somewhat apologetically as she parks her bike and the two of them climb off. “But they say they’re buying, so I think we can handle it.”

Elena’s parents are standing in the lobby as they walk in, and Daisy quickly plasters on a friendly smile.

“Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez!” she announces, maybe a little too enthusiastically, but at least the couple greets her without cringing. “So good to see you again!”

“Elena, you didn’t tell us you were bringing your friend?” Elena’s father says in a carefully measured tone.

Beside her, Elena grabs Daisy’s hand. “Not friend. Girlfriend. We’re dating.”

“That’s right!” Daisy immediately adds. “We are very much a couple. In love. Together. Partners in—” Elena’s hand tightens painfully, an obvious warning, and Daisy cuts herself off.

“So, dinner?” Elena’s mother says, turning away from them all and approaching the hostess stand. This feels like a good sign to Daisy, and she holds onto Elena’s hand until they got to their table.

Once everyone is seated with menus to stare at, things feel a little less weird, but once they’ve all ordered, the absence of small talk becomes more pronounced.

“So how’s the family?” Elena leads. “You been down to visit the granddaughter yet?”

Her mother lights up. “Oh of course, we were just there last month…”

Talking about grandchildren turns out to be the parents’ favorite topic, and it carries the four of them all the way to the arrival of their food. After a couple of minutes of quiet eating, Daisy catches Elena’s eye. Her friend looks so uncomfortable that Daisy can’t keep her mouth shut any longer.

“So are you going to ask Elena anything about herself?” she says in the parents’ direction. “What the past year has been like for her? How it feels to not be welcome to visit her niece?”

“Daisy!” Elena mutters, and her parents look startled, but Daisy plows forward, setting her fork down.

“I mean, you all are the ones who came to visit, right? It seems like you care about her, like you want to be in her life, so come on, what do you want to know? How many cases she’s solved this year? Want to hear about the task force she led back in the summer that led to a major drug bust? That she almost got shot in a standoff two weeks ago and it’s only because of Deke that she’s not in the hospital right now? Because even if you don’t want to hear about the part of her life that’s literally sitting at this table, you could at least quit acting like you don’t know anything about the woman in front of you. Elena is still Elena, the woman you raised, the daughter you love, and the kickass cop she’s always been. Now which part of her life do you want to hear about first?”

Elena’s parents glance at each other, and beneath the table, Elena squeezes Daisy’s hand tightly. She’s not sure if it’s gratitude or a warning, but either way, Daisy knows she’s said enough. Still, her parents say nothing, and finally, Elena sighs.

“Mom, Dad, I know you guys love me. I know this is something new for you that you’ve probably never had to think about or talk about before. The three of us didn’t talk about my love life before I came out, and that doesn’t have to change right now. But the thing is, if I had met someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, I would want to tell you all. I’d want you to meet them. I’d want you to come to our wedding. I’d want to invite you for Christmas and birthdays and christenings and quinceañeras…but if you all refuse to accept, or even acknowledge, that that person might be a woman…then it doesn’t seem like we can keep having a relationship.”

“What do you want us to say?” her father finally says, looking Elena in the eye.

“That you accept me for who I am and want to be a part of my life.” Elena’s voice is as firm as always, but the words are one of the most vulnerable things Daisy’s ever heard from her.

But several seconds of silence tick by, and Elena finally shakes her head, standing up.

“Wow. Okay then. Daisy, let’s go.”

Elena isn’t the type want to be held while crying, but Daisy tries to let holding onto her on the motorcycle as they leave feel like a hug.

~

The next day at work, Daisy is startled again…by Elena’s dad.

“Is Elena here?” the man says, towering over Daisy as she sat at her desk.

“Ahhhhh…yes, she’s here. Out there I think,” Daisy says in a nearly-trembling voice, pointing to the balcony that ran along their office bullpen. Elena is out there all right, not facing the windows while she nursed her second coffee of the morning.

“Do you want me to…” Daisy isn’t quite sure what to offer, but Jemma is giving her an encouraging nod from her desk.

“No, that’s all right,” Mr. Rodriguez says, waving Daisy off. “You did the right thing, standing up for Elena last night, and I’m sorry my wife and I did not react better. It’s obvious how much you love my daughter, and I’m glad she has you. But I need to apologize to Elena alone.”

Daisy can’t hear their conversation from inside, but she and Jemma watch attentively through the window as Mr. Rodriguez approaches his daughter, as they exchange a few words with somber expressions. Then, unexpectedly, Elena rushes forward and hugs her father, and he holds her back tightly for a long moment.

“I think it’s all right,” Jemma breathes beside Daisy, squeezing her hand.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Daisy drops Jemma’s hand before Elena and her father come back in, and the man approaches Daisy once more.

“If you all would like to come to Christmas together this year, you’re both welcome,” he announces, looking at Elena and Daisy in turn.

Daisy glances at Elena for direction, and for the first time in days, Elena cracks a smile.

“Thanks, dad. We’ll let you know in December if you should expect her.”

After he leaves, Daisy whirls on Elena.

“So you’re good?”

“We’re good.”

“Then why didn’t you tell him I’m not really your girlfriend?”

Elena already looks visibly lighter as she smiles. “I wanted to end on a high note. And anyway, girlfriend or not, the invitation to Christmas should still stand. You did a good thing for my family this week.”

Daisy smiles back, relieved. “Maybe instead of a Christmas invite, you could just cancel the debt of a thousand push-ups that I still owe you?”

“Nope, I still want those,” Elena says, narrowing her eyes, but she gives a characteristic smirk too before moving back to her desk, a look that tells Daisy the most important thing—Elena’s going to be okay.


End file.
